Gunshots rattle neighborhood

Published 12:00 am, Saturday, March 25, 2006

BETHEL - Gunshots rang out in the early morning hours in a quiet, working-class residential neighborhood on Friday.

One bullet hit a home at the intersection of Reservoir Street and Bethpage Drive, but no one was injured, police said.

Police said an older model red car with flip-up headlights similar to a Honda Prelude was seen leaving the area at high speed. Police did not release the time of the shooting, but indicated it was between midnight and 7 a.m.

Bethpage Drive is a neighborhood of small, well-kept lawns and mostly Cape Cod-style houses. The neighborhood is located off Route 53 in the southwestern corner of town.

Late Friday afternoon, several boys were playing and skateboarding in the road and others were playing in their yards.

, 16, lives across the street from the home that was hit. He and his mother said they didn't even know about the shooting until the police knocked on their door at 7 a.m. Friday to ask about the incident.

Mateusz said he and his mother aren't worried.

"I think it's just a one-time thing," he said.

But another neighbor, who didn't want to be identified, said he is "a bit concerned." When he moved to Bethel two years ago, he didn't expect gunfire, he said.

"We were wondering if it was just some kids, we're hoping. It was very strange," the neighbor said.

The man also said he was visited by the police, but he told them he hadn't heard anything. The police told him they found casings on one side of the street, which is lined by a wooded area, and bullets on the other where the corner house was struck.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call the Bethel police at (203) 744-7900. All information will be kept confidential.